IDEAS PLEASE... looking for a new car

EmmasMom

Member
Please help me make a choice…

I am to the point that I NEED a new car. My car has lived as long as it can (1999 Pontiac Grand AM). Unfortunately I have nothing to put down. I am hoping to get 0% if I get a new car (Toyota, Mazda, Ford… lots offering 0% in my area, Honda is 0.9%). I haven’t looked at used yet, but know I might have to in the end. I would hope new would keep the interest down and my insurance down.

I’ve looked at almost everything… haven’t made it to chevy yet. I like that a sedan has a trunk where you can put things that aren’t seen. Contrary to that the only thing I love so far is the Mazda 5, but I am afraid it might be too expensive and they said they don’t have any used (although I haven’t searched).

I want to keep my payments below $300/month at 60 months. I am hoping to buy Thursday (Sept. 30) and the dealers are pushing it because it is the end of the month. That said who knows what October will bring?

I don’t mind a 2010 over 2011. Sporty/fast isn’t that important to me. Wheels or “Rims” don’t need to be upgraded because I learned with my car it just makes the tires more expensive.

I WANT:
Safe, reliable, good on gas mileage, comfort features (tinted windows, keyless entry, power locks windows and seats would be great, cup holders…), I also like having a console but I saw some smaller cars don’t. I would like Accord/Camry size, but realize I’ll probably have to settle for Civic/Corolla size… I found the back of the Ford Focus too small for my daughter to get in and out without climbing all over the seats.

CARSEATS:
I have one 4 year old with a choice of Britax Frontier, Graco Nautilus, or (not for much longer) Britax Decathlon. She usually sits in the middle, but sometimes we have friends with car seats. Being able to fit 3 across without a Radian would be fantastic, but I know it is not probable on a smaller car.

I’ve looked at:
Honda: Fit, Civic
Toyota: Corolla, Matrix
Mazda: 3, 5, 6
Nissan: Cube, Versa, Sentra
Ford: Focus, Fusion
Hyundai: Elantra, Sonata
Mitsubishi: Lancer, Gallant
Subaru: Legacy (Can’t afford what dealer had, but they didn’t have any Imprezas to look at)
Volkswagen: Jetta (Dealer said they need to sell 12 more by the end of the month and he would make it under $300/month?)
Kia: Sole, Rio, Forte

I know this is a book, and I greatly appreciate those of you who have ANYTHING to say. Any help would be great. If you have had, would/wouldn’t recommend ANY of the PLEASE let me know! Even if you just know about the car seat situations on these cars. ;)

THANK YOU SOOOOO MUCH!
 
ADS

heathernick06

New member
We bought a new to us car in July and our criteria was similar to yours. We ended up with a 2009 Chevrolet Malibu and we really like it. It is definitely not sporty, but it fits our needs.

Looking at the list of things you want, it has great crash test ratings with air bags all around, pretty good gas mileage (we drive almost exclusively city and get about 22 MPG, haven't taken it on a long trip yet), it has most of the comfort features minus the power seats, and has a small center console. I can't vouch for its' reliability because we haven't had it for very long. The back seat is pretty roomy, but I'm not sure how it compares to a Civic or Corolla. It is definitely bigger than the Ford Focus that we looked at, and our payment is within your range, although it is not a new car so that would probably change the monthly payment.

The only car seats I have tried are a Radian, Roundabout 50 (RF and FF), Coccoro and a Recaro Vivo, all in the outboard seats. I did try the Vivo in the middle but there is a hump so it was wasn't very stable.
 

Melanie

New member
Here's my book :)

Check out these places:

edmunds.com Great buying/trading in tips. It will tell you all of the incentives available, even the non-published ones that go to the dealer. It will give you a decent idea of how much you'll really pay for a car. Has payment calculators, etc.

informedforlife.org Safety ratings of cars

Talk you your insurance agent. There can be a pretty big price difference between cars. For example, Lancers were more expensive to insure than you'd expect because they were popular with younger driver (that was 5yrs ago).

Before you're ready to buy-get financing lined up (your bank or where ever). Dealerships are notorious for making you think your credit isn't as good as it is to get you into a higher rate. They get some kind of commission from the bank or something. If they know you already have pre-approved rate sometimes they'll beat it. Also decide what add ons you want ahead of time and don't get talked into anything you don't want. Things like GAP ins, credit life and disability insurance, etc.

I highly highly recommend buying through the internet. We recently bought 2 cars this way and I'll never buy from a salesman again. Once you know what car you want, you submit inquiries to a few dealerships. Sometimes you can play them off of each other a bit. If they don't have the exact car you want, they can get it from another dealer for you. I did find that I got the best price from the dealer that already had the vehicle I wanted. You do all your negotiations and make your deal through email. Then you just take 1 last test drive, inspect your car and sign a few papers. You can do this when buying a used car too.

I'd figure out what the car's sales price needs to be to get you to that $300/month. It's easier to look and negotiate from the price of the car.

On your car choices...we looked at a few of these for DH's commuter car recently. Wound up with a Civic Coupe, but we weren't looking for kid friendly. It's fine for 2 FF seats, RF puts the front passenger in the dash.

Honda Fit-popular and great gas mileage. It's hatchback type so not great if you want a trunk. Doesn't have as good of crash scores as the Honda Civic

Honda Civic-great little car. Holds it's resale value very well so buying new is about the same price as buying a year or two old. Pretty car seat friendly for FF seats. There are some pictures of 3 across on here somewhere so it can be done but it will need the right seats and will be very tight. This is probably true of most small cars though. The sedan has a flat back seat and coupe has a big hump in the middle. I think it's a little noisy, but it doesn't bother DH.

Toyota Matrix-seems higher priced and harder to find than the Corolla and it doesn't have very good safety ratings (I might have just looked at ones that were a couple years old though). It has more cargo room than you'd think-but in a hatchback.

If you wind up going the bigger car route-I'd add Nissan Altima to the list. We just got rid of an 03 that we loved. Huge trunk, great back seat. 3 across wouldn't be a problem.

Kias and Hyundais tend to not have great resale value-stinks when buying new but great when buying used. Their 10 year 100k mile warranty will only apply to the first owner. Subsequent owners get something like 5 years 60k miles.

Have you considered the Scions? They're made by Toyota but are a little lower priced IIRC.

Fords have some neat techy stuff. Sync is great. It's about $300. It kind of makes the vehicle into a bluetooth for your phone. It can give you directions, call 911 in an accident, and uses voice commands. There's no monthly fee like Onstar. We just got a Flex and every time I look in the manual I find a new high tech thing it does.

Check out the head space on coups or sloped back window cars. Our civic (coupe) can only safely hold people up to about 5'4". Otherwise their head is literally on the back glass.
 
Last edited:

Guest

New member
it's edmunds.com. With a U, not an O.

Fit is a great car. Unfortunately, dealers know it's a great car so you can often find the Civic for cheaper even tho the Civic's MSRP is higher.

Look in the newspaper for the deals. Or call up dealers and ask them to call you when they have a weekend special or whatever. You know, those "3 at this price only" deals. My parents and their friends like buying cars that way. My mom's bought a Dodge Caravan for $12,000, a Camry LE for $16,000, and a Toyota Sienna LE for $22,000. All new. They still have the two Toyotas. The Dodge kinda sucked (4 cyl, short wheelbase, not even power windows IIRC), but then again, it was only $12,000 freaking dollars so she did get her money's worth out of it.

Scion is worth looking at, but you can't negotiate with Scion so you're likely able to get a better deal with a Toyota.
 

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